Here it Comes! A Fun Evening Out, Remembering Mom

The Ridge

On Thursday, Apr. 17th I woke up at 7 and rolled over onto my back. All of a sudden, there was a furry bundled stretched across my chest. He was obviously waiting for me to move and pet him but I wasn't ready to get up yet. I could hear Bill downstairs soundly sleeping, emphasis on 'soundly'. 😄 Gibbs fell asleep right there, where he landed and at 7:30 it was time to move. That's when the morning kisses and cuddles ensued.

Good morning!

Normal stretches underway, I got up feeling pretty good. The sky was completely blue, no clouds whatsoever. Fist pump! Yes! I could feel that finally our warmer days were coming. Our patience will be rewarded. ♥ Bill and I made our hot drinks and he had his cereal while I had some of my treasured yogourt. We had an empty propane tank so off he went into Durham to get it filled. Soon, that process will slow down.

Over at Dot and Gord's filling our bladder
That is Caper, Gibbs' friend in the forefront.
Remmy (?) was playing congo ball with Bill
on the left side of the truck.

At 10 we drove over in Black Beauty to Dot and Gord's, next door, to fill our water bladder. It is closer than Pat's and the offer was available to us. I got my Dirt Devil vacuum out and did the floors, upstairs and down. They were badly in need! I dusted the few open counter tops as well and relished in one of the bonuses of having small living spaces. 😁😁 We had a nice chat with Dot and a tour of their home that is in the process of being remodeled. They are making great progress. It is going to be so nice!

I took a walk down the lane 
Alone, you can see how far as Gibbs got
so I carried on down North Line.

Back home, Bill transferred the water to our tank and it is obvious our gauges are off as we still have about half a bladder after filling. At least, with the overnights warmer it won't freeze this time. Our Starlink needed to be mounted on the roof of the Suite so before lunch, he took care of that. Today, our forecast is calling for full sun and a high of 11C/52F and very little wind. We'll take it! That sunshine makes all the difference in the world.

Left: our Suite from the front field
Right: the corral hill and the little bum
waits for me on the step.

We had our ham, cheese and lettuce sandwiches for lunch and then had our showers to prepare for the rest of the day. At 2:30 we were ready to go for an evening out. Gibbs was going to be well looked after by our neighbour and good friend, Dot. She picked him up later on with Caper, her sweet pooch whom Gibbs remembered. ♥ He spent the rest of the day and evening until about 8:00 at their house. He had a good time and told us all about it when we got home. 😀

Uncle burger combos at A & W
Delicious!

We drove to Hanover, picked up Donna and Gerry, and drove to Dorchester, 2 1/2 hours from home. We stopped at A & W and pigged out on Uncle Burger combos before driving over the 401 to the Donnybrook Legion. Our son-in-law, Chris, was playing for the last time in the band, Wheeler, and we didn't want to miss it. Other than being loud, our 70+ ears can't handle that volume anymore and would much prefer to be able to converse occasionally at the same time. Oh well, they were great, especially Chris. He is amazing on those lead g-ee-tars!! Yes, I'm biased but honest.

Let the dancing begin!!
Bill took these while Donna and I were
on the floor.
We are in two pictures, can you see us?

It was an incredibly late night but a surprise for Bridgette and Chris. Brenda and Randy, good friends from London, joined us for a couple of hours as well and it was great to see them too. 

Chris in his element,
Bridgette in hers.
It was impossible to get them together

With my temperamental sciatica issues over the last 3 months, I wondered if the long drive and the dancing would bother me. NOPE! Donna and I danced up a storm and Bridgette wasn't ever far away on the dance floor. We had a great evening and so pleased that we could go.

Our good friends
and
The band Wheeler 

It was 12:30 am when we pulled into our lane and Gibbs was happy to see us. Performing on the bed, telling us all about his day. ♥ "Time to go back to sleep, little bum". 

Seems like Gibbs learned to drive
and surely enjoyed his time with
his friends. 💕💕
Thank you Dot, you are one special lady.

It was a pleasant day outside and a few more things got done at home too. The overnight temperature only dropped to 6C/42F , a change for the good. Finally lastly, and certainly not least, our sweet Mom is celebrating her 99th birthday in heaven today.

Happy Birthday, Mom.
One of my favourite pictures.
I hope you're dancing up your own storm today!
Good night!

Thank you for visiting today.

 

Rain, Wind, Sun, Jazz and Dahlias

The Ridge

On Wednesday, Oct. 9^th Bill was up of his own accord. No alarm and I’m sure that is feeling pretty darn good. 😊 Mind you, it was still about an hour earlier than my get up time and I had to go to work! I came down just after 7 and got washed, made my to-go tea and was out the door by 7:30.

Good morning!
Another beautiful sky to start the day.

But wait!!
Another rainbow this morning too!

Bill hopped in the shower and while I was gone, drove to First Choice Haircutters for a haircut. He missed out on the low-cost church cut so had to pay the big bucks. After my normal routine in the Mat, I got out the Swifter duster to reach all the high areas along the ceiling and walls. By the time I finished, it was an hour and a half later but it was a job done. I don’t know if/when Allison will do it next.

What a perfect time for the Canada geese
to fly over.

I left there and went for water. I like how comfortable I am with people I’ve met in Durham. My face is recognizable by some, after 8 summers up here it should be! When I walked in to Battery Pro (Water Store)/Impact Tire’s building, Mark teased me about having my keys on me. 😉 I knew this would not be forgotten any time soon but I love the banter and these are great people.

And on the way home from cleaning
the Mat, my 3rd rainbow.

Back home, it wasn’t long before Bill texted that we should take a chance between rain showers, and get Jazz over to Murray’s storage barn. He was home by 10:15 and bundled up in his leathers and I followed him the 25 minutes to his destination. Of course, 5 minutes after we set out, it started spitting and then as we got to the other side of Durham, it poured. Yes, he got wet but kept on going.

The weather forecast appeared
stable for the next hour +

Within 5 minutes, that changed.
I felt bad for Bill but it did start to
clear out on the drive.
I took the bottom picture because of the
lovely fall colours.
See him up there?

The sky was unforgiving but soon cleared and it was ‘intermittent wiper’ weather the rest of the way. Surprisingly, covered as he was, he didn’t get that wet. Rain doesn’t stick to leather. 😊 Back home by 11:45, we had lunch of bacon and eggs for a change and then went outside. I thought I could brave the winds and go move some of the logs Bill cut yesterday but changed my mind.

Watching the sky and in the field
beside us, there were hundreds of geese
gathering and discussing 'their' winter journey.

Feeling like a wimp, I stayed out and dug up my glad and dahlia bulbs on the property. Yes, the wind was nasty and cold, but I just kept digging and bagging them up for storage. Bill worked away at his airplane stuff, fitting things in the box he made last summer in Black Beauty’s bed. I should have taken a jack hammer or bull dozer down with me instead of the little garden trowel because the bulbs at the gate garden were huge!!

Bill and Jazz goes into the bar
She's all covered up until April or May

Live and learn but I was too lazy to walk back up and get the spade. Well, not lazy, I worked even harder because I didn’t do that. I now have probably a hundred dahlia bulbs for next spring! Bill suggested putting some at the back of the Hangar where it gets lots of sun and that should use up about 10. 😊 Ha ha. They sure multiply! I cleaned out the firepit today and stored it in the outhouse. The last 3 bird feeders will be emptied and stored in the Bunky as well, but not until after the weekend.

Lunch

We will take the shelter down when it is not wet or windy. Another day of many accomplishments, tomorrow morning being another busy morning along the same vein. We are expecting some overnight company tomorrow so that will give us a break and a good visit with great friends, once more, before we all depart for our journeys. Gibbs was in and out, in his jacket, even he is feeling the cold wind biting into his little body. ♥

The dahlias and glads are dug
Some of the stalks were very large and brittle.
My small clippers and trowel met their match
today!

We woke up to 4C/39F and reached a not so lovely high of 9C/49F by the peak of the day. It felt a lot colder than that with the 28.9 mph gusts of wind. I stopped working at 3 and came in for a hot cup of tea. Bill carried on, starting the arranging of underbelly (basement) storage. We’ll not be bbq’ing any more, the rain in the forecast has determined that, so the Weber Q and the table it sits on went away.

Told you it was windy!
This is my sheet for covering the plants
drying.

He quit before 4 as well. For supper, I cooked a butt chop inside to share with some potatoes and a vegetable. A hot meal for a cool day is always nice. Everything turned out good, although I forgot to cook Bill his corn. Woops! He doesn’t like the Brussel sprouts that I cooked for myself. 😊 We cleaned up dishes and had a quiet evening. I’m still having a hard time remembering what tv programs are on ‘live’ with our fire stick/streaming set up but manage to find something to watch.

I believe I'm blessed!
4 rainbows in 2 days.
💓

This has been a good day. Cleaning up the messy job of digging bulbs and I’ve tossed the vegetable plants since I’ve collected the last of the tomatoes and peppers. We’ll see if there is room in the Bunky or shed for the canvas bags that still have dirt in them. It is acceptable to keep them that way for another season, at least.

Note: if you are interested, Bill has posted his first blog of the summer! Check it out here.

Supper was good.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by! I feel blessed that I have seen 4 rainbows in 2 days. ♥

A Cloudy Start, The Puzzle is Done, Relaxing Sunny Afternoon

Park Place RV Park

On Wednesday, Feb. 21^st we got up to Hump Day around 7. I find I sleep really well from 10:15, when I drop off, straight through until 5:30, when I wake up. That’s a good sleep even though it may often be jam-packed with dreams. 😊 I seem to visit with a lot of people in my ‘life-group’ when I’m sleeping so it is kind of nice.

Good morning!

Same walk, different direction

Bill was getting ready to go to the field when Gibbs and I came downstairs. At 8:15, Gibbs and I were ready and went for our walk. It was warm already. The sky was cloud-filled so when Bill left, he did not disconnect us from power. I had a bit of cleaning to do, the floors in particular, so took care of that and helped M back home post an ad on Kijiji. Then I walked over to join Susan & Nancy and finish that pretty puzzle. Sadly, there are 3 pieces missing.

Still a pretty picture
I enjoyed this one.

Back home, I changed into my shorts and sat outside with my book. I’m not sure, without going back in my posts, if I told you about the book I started. It is a thick book called The Other Side of the Story by Marilyn Keyes. Well, I’m 95 pages in and had to finally close it for good. It’s a dumb story – a 31 yr. old single lady’s reactions to her Mom’s reaction to the man of the house leaving for another younger woman. The Mom, I understand, but the daughter? Come on! Stupid story.

I love how this picture turned out.

I went to my cupboard and brought out one I know I’ll enjoy. Getting back into the mystery genre, Sue Grafton’s Q is for Quarry will keep me reading. I’ve read a few of hers, not in any order so it is a good thing I keep notes! 😊 Bill and I had a chat with Nancy for a while and then lunch was on the agenda. I felt no need to go back to the clubhouse so sat outside again to read (and sneak in a bit of a snooze) in the sun. Beautiful day! While outside, a roadrunner ran through the park but I couldn’t capture him on my camera. Darn!

You can hardly see Nancy
Gibbs loves here and visa versa 💖

FYI, we do have chairs she can sit in
Ha ha

Bill puttered with his planes and I came in for my cup of tea. The winds had picked up with the occasional gust to 17 mph and the white fluffy clouds moved across the blue sky periodically. It was a warm 70F/21C today. Still nice weather in the forecast. Bill had the Check Engine light come on yesterday and this morning in Black Beauty so will go to Blythe to get it checked out in the morning. We don’t take chances with our tow vehicle.

Sometimes your home becomes a work room
The winds made what he was doing a bit difficult

For supper, after Gibbs and I walked the ‘park block’, was chicken pieces and chips. As usual, they were good. Not sure what the evening will bring. I might pop over to see Nancy one more time, she leaves in the morning. ☹ This has been a relaxing day yet again. You’d think we were retired! Hoping all goes well with the truck in the morning, we’ll enjoy our evening.

Yummy.
I was hungry so we ate early for once.
Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

Sunny Start, Rainy End and a Party Invite Defunct

The Ridge

On Saturday, July 8^th the day started out a bit iffy. Bill had been up with Gibbs just after 6 and remained downstairs. I rolled over at 6:45 and he was doing his shoulder exercises so I waited until he was finished. I made my tea-to-go and noticed on my car thermometer that it was a pleasant 13C/56F when I left for Durham.

The sky this morning but I still hung the laundry
with Gibbs on duty. 💖
They dried really quickly too.

There were clouds around the area so I wasn’t 100% sure whether I would be drying our laundry at the Mat or bringing the clothes home for hanging. Things looked decent when I arrived and the place was hopping around 8 with 4 or 5 customers already hard at it. I put ours in 2 top load washers today and went about cleaning. There were 2 chatty people so we chatted while I worked. 😊

Our walk this morning
The hidden pond and my tiger lilies

By the time our clothes were washed, the sky was clearing up nicely so after a quick stop at Foodland for some of my Liberte yogourt (on sale), I returned home to hang them on the line. There was no breeze but it was plenty warm so I figured they would dry. There was a pretty fair chance of rain this afternoon so I’d have to stay vigilant and bring them in when the sky looked threatening.

Everything is growing like crazy
A flowering raspberry busy, hostas, coralbells
and vegetables.
Lastly 2 large milkweed plants hoping to 
see Madame Butterfly again

My bird feeders, with the exception of the hummers and finch food, are almost empty but the grackles are not giving up. The Ruby-throated Grosbeak has a couple of teenagers that she is diligent in feeding so she is visiting the Niger seed often. 😊 The feeder with the outside cage is a challenge for the large birds as they can’t comfortably get any seed. I’m not too sad about that, they are piggies.

The grackles hanging out
at the big crook
A little wren is hoping to come inside,
sitting on our ladder

I decided while Bill was flying this morning that I would cut the front lawn. It is looking pretty shabby. That’s when I noticed how humid it was, after 45 minutes of that, I was very hot. The mower was ready to die anyway so it was a good time to stop. Gibbs and I sat in the shade of the awning until I cooled down. I put my puzzle away, checked on the veggies and inside I filled the fridge water jug. There was nothing left but to relax.

I have these all over the Ridge so should cut
some for indoors. They're beautiful!

We sat in the hammock together and when Bill texted that he would be later than noon, I finished the potato salad with some cucumbers. I made some ‘Sangria’ yesterday from the red wine and although I followed the recipe, it isn’t giving me much satisfaction. It may go down the tubes after all. We’ll see, I hate giving up!

Between the clouds, we experienced
some heat in the hammock.
Look up, Gibbs, that sky is gorgeous!

Gibbs and I went for a walk down to the edge of our front field when we noticed a few rain drops. It was 2 o’clock and the forecasters weren’t far off. Bill was home around 3 and made himself a sandwich. Last night, we received a party/get together invite from our neighbour 2 houses to the east. We went last year to it and it was on their youngest son’s birthday. Today is Meagan’s husband’s special day. 😊

The hummers and orioles
are still returning.

We planned on popping in for a short visit but the rain has put a damper on that. She’ll have a house full of little and big people so I sent our wishes instead. They have a nice family so maybe another time. Bill dozed and Gibbs did too. I think Gibbs thinks he’s providing the ‘heat’ part of his therapy by sitting on his shoulder. ♥

This picture of Chippy was taken a while ago
on my big Canon

I’ve been watching the birds and having a cup of tea before it was time to brush Gibbs’ teeth. He, thankfully, likes the taste of his toothpaste, making the job a bit easier. I had planned burgers for supper but with the rain, that may change. Bill and I moved the barbecue table under the awning and he grilled despite the light rain that continued to fall around us. It was another good burger night. 😊

Yummy and filling

With rain ending around 9, we aren’t expecting much in the way of a dry day tomorrow. I think the heavens have the days mixed up. Remember as children how it seemed to rain overnight instead? 

Daddy's helper
First by adding heat to his shoulder 😂
Second by helping him barbecue

This was a great day and now I have some blog reading to catch up on! Bill did his exercises, iced and went to the Hangar for a couple of hours. 

A pose for Mama 
Such a precious little soul.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping around.

Clouds, Sun, She’s Pretty Again! Experiment

Park Place RV Park

Sunday, Feb 12^th we woke up to mostly clouds and they stayed around until 10:00 or so. Bill and I skipped our ‘usual’ morning routines other than I did take Gibbs for his walk. Bill had his cereal and we each made a hot brew to take with us to Parker. Black Beauty was happy for the ‘run’ and we'd decided to get the bulk of our groceries at Walmart. It has never steered us wrong and today was no exception. We got quite a pile of groceries for $205! 

a cloudy start to our Sunday

When we reached Walmart, the sky was showing 
improvement

Before leaving town, Bill pulled into Terrible’s for a DIY truck wash. $4 for 14 minutes. A definite improvement. We had no other stops so headed home, arriving soon after 11. It was close to noon by the time we had everything stored away and I’d separated the chicken thighs, pork chops and sausages into meal size baggies. The freezer is now full and we are well stocked again. Now, our shopping trip to Yuma, on Tuesday, will be easier, with fewer stops to make there.

The Royal treatment
for Black Beauty
Bill actually came out of this dry!

We had lunch, another cold plate for me. It was a full plate because now I had all the things that I liked filling it. My eyes were a bit bigger than my stomach (really?) as I was stuffed and pawned some cheddar off on Bill AND Gibbs. 😊 By now, the clouds had moved out of the way and Bill had been wise in his thought to turn our power off and the inverter on before we left. Every penny saved helps.

The sky just improved throughout the day

I knew today was Super Bowl Sunday, of which we’re not fans at all, and there was a potluck at 3 in the clubhouse. That being said, we were not participating BUT I did want to work on the new puzzle for a bit before it began. A couple of hours was enough and I returned home. I must admit that Patti and Rick’s pulled pork, that was cooking in a crock pot, smelled yummy!

this is a nice puzzle
Not too difficult but we all seem to be enjoying it

I painted for a while back home and used the clear coat spray that I just bought this morning to finish a few. Then, I joined Bill in wiping down Black Beauty. She looked much improved after the wash but the spots on the windows and body were frustrating. I used my Norwex cloths, wet and dry, to wipe it down and Bill followed me with his cleaning products that cover everything with a water repellant. She’s glimmering now and very happy. I can tell. 😊

I came in at 4:15, my job done, poured Bill a Coke 0 and made a cup of tea for moi. Every once in a while, the winds would gust but for the most part, this gorgeous day seemed never ending. It’s great to be in shorts and sleeveless tops again, while it lasts ♥ I’ve heard from Mitch back home and he reports, as does Donna, to having a beautiful day there too. Sunny and 4C/40F. That’s good for Ontario in February.

When Gibbs and I came inside, he
had to keep watching Daddy out the window
Bill was on a break from applying the two coats 
rub on rub off - twice, I think

Okay, I mentioned an experiment. If you'll indulge me, I'll tell a story in between today's pictures. Throughout November and December I was pestered with bouts of shingles often. I mean, sometimes 2 and 3 times in a week. Before one ended, another would begin. I’d take my pills and apply cream often but it didn’t seem to matter. It became quite painful and annoying! Around Christmas I had 3 breakouts in 7 days, that lasted until New Year’s Day, actually Jan. 2^nd/23 to be exact.

Sitting inside, I took this picture
Can you guess what it is?
I held the camera up to photograph
the sun disappearing behind clouds and when I saw this
effect, I snapped it
So much for the scene outside!

I had 5 bottles of 50 pills from Algodones and decided to bite the bullet and take one a day for the month of January. Usually, the dosage is 2 per day, morning and night, during the breakout. I didn’t have one single bout from that day on. So! The experiment was to NOT take them for February and see what happens. I was good until yesterday afternoon when I noticed one on the back of my upper right thigh. Drats! It was so nice not to have the pain, itch, and temporary scars. Last night, I started the pills again.

Here's BB all decked out

Whoot whoot!
Bill took these pictures for me

I hope you don’t think I’m asking for sympathy, I’m not, and it isn’t necessary for you to remind me about the vaccine. I’m fully aware of it. Unless you’ve had shingles and then got the vaccine, you can’t really know if it will work. I did have the first one, Zostavax, in ’97 or ’98. It didn’t stop them.

The newest 2 dose Shingrix (which I’m not sure of my faith in either) is available to me and I may decide this summer to get it OR since our friend, Nancy, has picked me up 3 bottles from L.A. on her last visit,I may just take one a day and go with that. Until it doesn’t work. 😊 Anyway, that’s where I am. Well, that was a long ‘story’! Now it is also on record for me down the road to answer ‘when did I get the breakouts, when did I take the pills’ etc. if I should forget.

Supper was tasty and I pulled 
a piece of cherry pie from the freezer
for each of us 😍

I took Gibbs for a walk around the park around 5, still a lovely evening. 

For supper, we had leftover hamburger ghoulash (?) with a couple of baby potatoes and a vegetable. Easy peasy and tasty at the same time. It was a quiet evening, nothing on tv, so we watched the second dvd of The BeeGees. The first one, last night, was their life story. This one is mostly a concert. We enjoy them and have had and watched the dvd's for many years. Another great day for us here in the park, which is quiet with many sportsters inside watching the game. 😊

a beautiful evening sky
Good night!

Thank you for the pop in.